cheap reference monitors

[Glen Samuel]

I,m currently running cakewalk on a pc, am very happy with this set up the problem I'm having is trying to get a decent mix. Sounds as if a decent pair of reference monitors can run at a prohibitive price, I think powered monitors would best suit my needs.
1) does anyone know of a decent pair of powered monitors in the $150-200 range
2) if not what would be the best alternative to suit this range, IE a good flat response powered computer speaker?
3) if I have to go with unpowered speakers, what would be a good cheap but usable mixing amp?
thaks anyone who helps, to get an idea of the bad mixing I,m talking about check out Glen Samuel on mp3.com.

[drstawl]

You'll have to be more specific than "Glen Samuel" mix sucks. I went to mp3.com, heard it and found nothing wrong. That Lou Reed sound was captured perfectly. The drums were
at a consistent volume. The vocals were clearly understandable. I'm using a pair of unpowered Event 20/20 monitors. (~$159 ea.) What would <you> want to change about the mix?

[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 08-17-1999).]

[Glen Samuel]

I find the mixes generally very muddy with little separation between the instruments. Some of the mixes come out okay but only after countless trips to my car and my wifes truck to reference them. It seems as if I'm basically mixing by chance untill I get something decent. for the best example of this check out "full grown man" it will be on the mp3 site momentarily. thanks for the feed back, Glen.

[drstawl]

Still waiting for the mp3 post. In the meantime I thought I'd drop a suggestion about the amp you asked about. Although I use a 60W/channel consumer receiver, my bass player uses a system I've never seen elsewhere. He uses no pre-amp at all- just a really clean 200W per channel amplifier. All his signals are run through an inexpensive patch bay to the amplifier and then through a pair of Quad electrostatics. Thump City. I'm sure there's a cheaper variation on this theme that's workable. My situation demands high fidelity at lower sound pressure levels.